In contrast to previous commentary on the surveillance and control of cross-border travel as solely a “privacy” issue, the core legal principles in the PI/ACLU/CCLA statement include both the substantive right to freedom of movement as protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, Article 12) and the U.S. Constitution, and the procedural right to due process not just in how travel data is handled (”data protection”) but with respect to any decision impinging on the right to travel or imposing other ill effects.

Many thanks to you and your organization for keeping these abuses in the spotlight. And thanks, again, for your help with the Phil Mocek case. Readers of this comment who have been violated by TSA policies at airports and elsewhere should consider posting their stories at http://tsawatchdog.org. We need to keep the light of liberty shining on the dark corners of oppression….

Wow… it’s so weird to read my own words in the last post… I am a dedicated lefty liberal, and I just wrote that! As I’ve so often pointed out to my friends on the “right,” this is an issue that transcends the pseudo-ideologies of “left” and “right” that have been promoted by the corporate media. This is about basic US Constitutional rights. And we must prevail, if we are to maintain anything resembling a free society…